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TxDOT says: Leave the shotgunning to the pros

TxDOT's new campaign to educate about the perils of impaired driving, Know When To PASS, kicked off last month.

Even if your favorite quarterback doesn’t know when to pass the football, the Texas Department of Transportation is asking you to know when to pass the keys.

Car keys, that is.

About 83 percent of Texans watch football games on TV, TxDOT spokeswoman Mona Lisa Zertuche said, either at a friend’s house, their own house or a bar. TxDOT also reports that 45 percent of Texans who drink at a football watch party report driving home.

“If they’re planning to watch football and planning to drink,” Zertuche said, “they should also be planning to have a designated driver.”

Last year, San Antonio police investigated 24 alcohol-related fatal crashes between October and February, according to TxDOT, and arrested a total of 2,532 suspected drunken drivers — an average of about 506 each month.

Last month, there were 549 suspected drunken drivers arrested by police, an SAPD spokeswoman said. At least two people, 11-year-old Brian Barrientos and Jorge Badillo Jr., 31, died in crashes in which alcohol was suspected, according to Express-News records.

Although San Antonio lacks a professional pigskin team, 2011 marked the inaugural season for the University of Texas at San Antonio’s football team, and Roadrunner fans flocked to parking lots near the Alamodome to partake in tailgating, a longstanding game day tradition.

“We’ve been tailgating since the first game,” said David Spencer of the UTSA BruteSquad, a group of advisory board members from the university’s college of engineering whose tailgates attract about 1,000 fans each game.

He said all servers are certified by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, and many attendees take advantage of VIA’s Park & Ride service.

“Clearly, being safe is everyone’s No. 1 priority, but there are ways to have safe fun,” Spencer said.

TxDOT’s $200,000 campaign, funded by federal money designated for public education on the risks of impaired driving, began in October. Watch for the campaign’s vehicle at a football watch party near you.